CENTCOM: Two Cruise Missiles and One Unmanned Surface Vessel of Houthis Destroyed

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a statement on Thursday, August 9, that American forces successfully destroyed "two anti-ship cruise missiles belonging to the Iran-backed Houthis and a ground control station of the Houthis in areas under their control in Yemen" in the past 24 hours. The statement also noted that these forces "successfully destroyed an unmanned surface vessel of the Houthis in the Red Sea." CENTCOM emphasized that these weapons and equipment posed "an obvious and imminent threat to U.S. forces, the coalition, and commercial vessels in the region" and added, "This reckless and dangerous behavior of the Iran-backed Houthis continues to threaten the stability and security of the region." The Houthis began their near-daily attacks on vessels in the region in November of last year, prompting the United States and Britain to conduct several airstrikes in Yemen to eliminate the military infrastructure of this group. Following the Houthi attacks, which resulted in the deaths of several sailors and disrupted global trade, the United States re-designated this group as a global terrorist organization last winter. On a day of significant confrontations for CENTCOM with Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden, at least 7 threats were thwarted. CENTCOM reported the destruction of a missile and a launcher belonging to the Houthis. The U.S. military destroyed two missiles from the Iran-backed Houthis. More than 150 terrorist actions by ISIS in the first six months of this year; CENTCOM states this is double that of 2023.